10-year old Kyle and 8-year old Bryce Billingslea found a kitten along a country road in Michigan. The kitten was missing his front paws! The 10-week old cat's injuries were rotting and full of maggots, but he still managed to purr. The boys called animal control, and the responding officer called a veterinarian. The kitten was taken to MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where he's had two rounds of surgery on his amputated limbs, with more to come. Veterinarians think that Howard may have been injured by farm machinery, which is where he got the nickname "the combine kitty". Costs to save and rehabilitate Howard are expected to run from one to two thousand dollars, but donations are coming in to Ingham County Animal Control & Shelter. Howard is recovering well, eating a lot, and is even able to stand and use his litter box, despite the bandages. http://www.ingham.org/ac/ -via Arbroath, where you can see a video report.
10-year old Kyle and 8-year old Bryce Billingslea found a kitten along a country road in Michigan. The kitten was missing his front paws! The 10-week old cat's injuries were rotting and full of maggots, but he still managed to purr. The boys called animal control, and the responding officer called a veterinarian. The kitten was taken to MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where he's had two rounds of surgery on his amputated limbs, with more to come. Veterinarians think that Howard may have been injured by farm machinery, which is where he got the nickname "the combine kitty". Costs to save and rehabilitate Howard are expected to run from one to two thousand dollars, but donations are coming in to Ingham County Animal Control & Shelter. Howard is recovering well, eating a lot, and is even able to stand and use his litter box, despite the bandages. http://www.ingham.org/ac/ -via Arbroath, where you can see a video report.
Kind regards from the netherlands, where we do take care of both the cat and the fellow citizens instead of being proud of saving just one kitten.
And don't come talking about euthanasia and abortion 'cause it has jack shit to do with helping people, fuck y'all for not listening to righteous policies.
Apparently true. Wikipedia says it may indicate they're not a threat, but it also may help healing: http://cats.suite101.com/article.cfm/purring_helps_with_healing
Skippy, I'm amazed you could be so cold. Yes, cats are over abundant, but that's no reason to treat them as disposable. My own cat, Azul, is approaching her first birthday in October. When she was four weeks old, someone threw her and her sister from a moving vehicle on a back road where she was found bleeding from the head by my aunt and cousin, who took her to a vet and saved her life. I fell in love with her at word one when they brought her to Thanksgiving dinner. Now she keeps my lap warm every morning and covers me with kisses, sits next to the tub when I take my bath, and plays fetch every evening before bed.
I don't care how many cats there are. She's one of a kind.
I realize that there are some costs for actual items like anesthesia and medical supplies but I can't imagine those things costing anywhere near that amount. Maybe the article isn't explaining it right but the story would have been much nicer if they didn't mention that there is going to be a $2000 bill involved.
In fact, it can be quite merciful.
A vet will keep an animal alive for as long as you're willing to spend.
After they put him down, the vet sent me a card signed by the vet and her assistants to offer condolences. Maybe she and the vet who gave my parents free medications to save a litter we were losing to a major flea infestation when I was a kid were just exceptions.
Today two passers-by brought in a dog that got hit by a car in front of the store I work in and rushed him to the vet clinic we have. They didn't own the dog, the vet never did find the owners, but he tried to save the dog anyway. (He died.)
Since some of you here think it's so bad to try helping a stray animal I'll be sure to bitch them all out for you tomorrow, OK?
oh look, now we're both posting opinions that have nothing to do with the story. woops.
"The estimate to rehabilitate Howard's life is approximately $1000-2000"
What is the money for? They say he will require future surgeries but what are the costs involved there? Medicine and anesthesia?
I know a vet office that has worked on strays, nothing as severe as this though. Besides the fact that there is nobody to bill, all services were done for free and most meds were paid for by the vet. After they get them healthy they work with a shelter to find them homes. Often the people that bring in sick or injured strays will pay some of the costs. Im pretty sure most vets would have euthanized this cat but because it was at a school they used him as a learning opportunity.
I think he'll be fine. Ive seen many cats less a limb or two that never had any veterinary care at all.
A .22 bullet only cost about 3 cents.
Throwing it in a pail of water, (like I did to a whole litter of kittens last spring) is free.
Years ago, my parents were traveling home from a weekend trip. I was 16 and had stayed home with my 10-year-old brother. My parents found an injured kitten, about 6 months but hard to tell because he was very thin, on the side of the road. He had been hit by a car and his back leg had been shattered.
My parents knocked on doors near where they found the kitten and naturally no one would claim it. So, being unable to leave him there, they brought him home. My mom woke me up to tell me about this and warned that the kitten would probably not survive the night. My first sight of him was of a marmalade kitten, back leg a ghastly sight...but purring.
We took him to the vet the next morning. This being a country vet in a small town, he said he could amputate the leg for $45, or put the kitten to sleep for $15. My dad is a carpenter, and was working on a jobsite nearby. My mom went to ask my dad what he thought. The vet had warned that the cat would require special care and would not be able to go outside. My dad did not hesitate when he said that if he had wanted the cat to die he would have left him on the side of the road.
The cat proved to be amazingly resilient, and not only overcame his injury, but got around just as quickly as the other cats. He had a sweet and happy nature. We named him Malarkey, but he also answered to Tripod.
Stories like the Combine Cat are worth far more than anyone's attempt to spoil them.
Suck a bag of d*cks
@ Betseflets
Jesus Christ, how cold can you be? Animals have feelings too, don't be so selfish.
Just so you people know, I am from the Netherlands too, and I want to apologize for Betseflets's weird comment, not all Dutch people are like this.
@ Skippy
You're as selfish as Betseflets.